Flower Headbands and Fiesta!

Believe it or not, I have NOT fallen of the face of the earth! Things have been a little hectic, as springtime usually is for anyone with kids! It seems like all the sports seasons and end of the year concerts are overlapping right now. This week our family has 2 softball games, 2 soccer games, a concert, and a 5k run! When will it end? 

Anyway, the concert on Sunday is also a fundraiser for my son's church choir trip this summer. So I've been busy making headbands and putting together a gift basket for the silent auction they have. The church is always looking for a wide range of items for people to bid on, including some lower ticket items for kids. I thought these headbands were a great idea, and hopefully some people like them enough to buy them for their little girls!

I used the same technique as I did with my fall floral wreath (click here for the tutorial), which has now become my old standby for making any kind of flower crafts!

Here they are!

And some close-ups:

I also put together a Mexican "Fiesta" gift basket. After looking around on Pinterest, I thought this would be the perfect, easy basket to assemble. But...you know...when you're NOT looking for something, you see it everywhere?? And then you go to the store looking for it later and those things are NOWHERE to be found? That's what happened to me. I had visions of cute little margarita glasses and a bright chip & dip bowl set, but none of those things materialized at the store! Here's what I finally put together.

You might remember I found a basket last winter at a thrift store. It was filled with pinecones & ribbon that I used to make a pine cone wall-hanging. Well, I still hadn't found a use for the basket, so I spray-painted it bright red and lined it with a chili pepper bandanna from Hobby Lobby. Then I filled it with some salsa, queso dip, spices, chips, a hand towel & a bowl. Here's a cell phone picture of the basket, sitting on the seat of my van because I forgot to take a picture before I dropped it off at the church! :)

It was fun putting it together, even if it didn't turn out exactly how I planned!

Now I just have to make sure I run FAST in the 5k on Sunday morning so I can get to church for the auction...can't wait to see all the other goodies!

Monogram Art

I thought about making this project part of my "Frugal Holidays" series (which wasn't much of a series with just 5  parts!) But since it was a Christmas gift for my sister (who occasionally reads my blog), I didn't want to spoil the surprise! She was married in 2011, and I didn't think of this as a wedding gift, so Christmas was the next best thing.

I took a thrift store frame (I know she doesn't mind - she was probably with me when I bought it!) a wooden letter "N" from Hobby Lobby, and since I couldn't find any satisfactory wooden numbers, some scrapbook stickers (actually, they are called "Thickers" since they're so big & thick!)

See, I told you - Thickers!!

I spray painted everything black - even the "Thickers" which came in silver, but not black

(So now I know that pictures of black things taken in my dark basement don't turn out so great!)

I used two pieces of scrapbook paper and decoupaged them to the glass from the frame. Mostly because I needed some kind of back to hold it all together, and no one told me I couldn't decoupage glass! I've never heard of it before, but what the heck! It turned out okay. I added the black stripe between the N and 2011 since there was seam between the 2 pieces of paper that didn't look the greatest - the stripe was to hide that!

After everything dried, I used craft glue to stick the N and the numbers on the glass. The numbers wouldn't stick with just the regular sticker Thicker adhesive, so I had to use glue. Good idea - I wouldn't want the numbers falling off onto the floor for my sister's dogs to eat!

I personally think this was a pretty cool idea, and might make one for myself someday! (You know, after my long list of other projects is finished!) :)

This post linked to:

Ginger Snap Crafts: Wow Me Wednesday

Debbiedoo's Blogging & Babbling: Newbie Party
Southern Lovely: Show & Share
Someday Crafts: Whatever Goes Wednesday
The Blackberry Vine: Tuesday To Do Party
The Crafty Blog Stalker: Blog Stalking Thursday
Crafty, Scrappy, Happy: Crafty, Happy, Scrappy Me Thursday
Here's to Handy Andy: Pinteresting Link Party

Frugal Holidays: Day 3 - The Toast Grabber

I have wanted to do a post on this AWESOME little item for quite some time now. It's something we use literally EVERY DAY in our house, and its the simplest little thing. But first, a little history:

My brother (now 27 years old!) made the toast grabber for us as a wedding present. At one time, it had our names & wedding date on it in colorful Sharpie. (If you look closely you can almost see them in the picture!) But alas, those nice inscriptions wore off many years ago. I think he made it in Cub Scouts. (And I'm sure he credits his toast-grabber-making skills in helping him eventually earn the rank of Eagle Scout!) Anyway. We just happened to be getting married that year, so what else would an eleven year old give as a wedding gift?? 

This project would be a great craft for kids to make as a Christmas gift. I have often thought of having my kids making them (I can totally picture the blingy toast grabber that my daughter would make)...but just about everyone in our family has their own toast grabber. (My brother was busy that year! Although, I'm just realizing that I bet he didn't make one for himself...now that he's all grown up, he may just need one of his own! Hmmmm....)

The Toast Grabber In Action!

A closer look

Even though I cannot take credit for making this tool, I will attempt to explain how you can make your very own. Through careful examination, I have been able to determine that you will need the following supplies to make your own toast grabber:

Wooden clothespin

2 craft sticks (the wide ones, not the skinny popsicle sticks)

Glue

Glue the craft sticks onto the clothespin, and that's it! Instant finger protection for your morning meal!